a. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to walk-behind mowers and specifically to walk-behind mowers that have electric speed control.
b. Description of the Background
Walk-behind mowers including a tractor unit and a mowing deck attached to the front of the tractor have been commercially available for a long time. Typically, the tractor has only two wheels and the mowing deck is rigidly connected to the forward end of the tractor. A serious disadvantage with such types of mowers is that the quality of cutting is not as good as desired, since the mower can ‘scalp’ the grass in some areas and leave the grass too long in other areas because the mowing deck is not able to closely follow the contour of the ground.
The operator controls for self-propelled walk behind mowers tend to be difficult to use while meeting the requirements of safety and operability. In some cases, the operator must continually grip two hand levers in order for the mower to move forward at a constant speed. Such a system is prone to operator fatigue.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a mower that more accurately follows the contour of a lawn during mowing and further provides a set of operator controls that are not prone to operator fatigue.